hat the lands which pay no rent to Government have no 'barkat',
blessing from above--that the man who holds them is not blessed in
their returns like the man who pays rent to Government and thereby
contributes his aid to the protection of the community. The fact is
that every family that holds rent-free lands must, in a few
generations, become miserable from the minute subdivision of the
property, and the litigation in our civil courts which it entails
upon the holders.[15] It is certainly the general opinion of the
people of India that no land should be held without paying rent to
Government, or providing for people employed in the service of
Government, for the benefit of the people in its defensive,
religious, judicial, educational, and other establishments. Nine-
tenths of the land in these Nerbudda territories are held in lease
immediately under Government by the heads of villages, whose leases
have been renewable every five years; but they are now to have a
settlement for twenty.[l6] The other tenth is held by these heads of
villages intermediately under some chief, who holds several portions
of land immediately under Government at a quit-rent, or for service
performed, or to be performed, for Government, and lets them out to
farmers. These are, for the most part, situated in the more hilly and
less cultivated parts.

Notes:

1. November, 1835.

2. This observation does not hold good in densely populated tracts,
which are now numerous.

3. These 'estates of villages' are known by the Persian name of
'mauza'. The topographical division of the country into 'mauzas',
which may be also translated by the terms 'townlands' or 'townships',
has developed spontaneously. Some 'mauzas' are uninhabited, and are
cultivated by the residents of neighbouring villages.

4. In some parts of Central and Southern India, the 'Garpagri', who
charms away hail-storms from the crops, and 'Bhumka', who charms away
tigers from the people and their cattle, are added to the number of
village servants, [W. H .S.] 'In many parts of Berar and Malwa every
village has its "bhumka", whose office it is to charm the tigers; and
its "garpagri", whose duty it is to keep off the hail-storms. They
are part of the village servants, and paid by the village community,
After a severe hail-storm took place in the district of Narsinghpur,
of which I had the civil charge in 1823, the office of "garpagri" was
restored to several villages in which it had